108 chapter two
Turfan, he established relations with the Chinese, i.e. the Sui dynasty.
After gaining the Empire’s consent in 612 A.D., K’iu Peya introduced
a new hairdo code:
By now we used to wear our hair lax and to girdle left since our prince-
dom was situated in wild border territory. From now on, the Great Sui
dynasty governs, the universe is peaceful and united... and the time
for great changes has come. Ordinary people and dignitaries have to
unbraid their hair in order to comb after Chinese [manner] and to cut
the left part [of their kaftan?].^86S. Yatsenko presumes that this experiment was not successful, because
on the one hand, K’iu Peya did not want to worsen the relations with
the Turks and, on the other hand, there were more important rea-
sons to be careful with ‘making experiments’. Moreover, the Turks
did not request such changes in any of the conquered regions! Thus
the explanation can be searched in ethnogonic Turkic legends and in
one of them, in particular, where Turfan was pointed as the Turkic
homeland;^87 the 10 Turkic clans migrated exactly from there north-
wards and later on became vassals of the Rou-Rans/Jou-Jans.
In the fourth- to sixth-century China fell into disturbances and
instability and many inhabitants of the Northern border territories
settled in Turfan. In the mid-fifth century there were many Chinese,
including aristocrats, living in all the eight towns of the princedom.
The Turkic pressure on K’iu Peya for restoring the ancient rites may
be linked with the fears of growing Chinese influence in this important
region on the border of the khaganate, but also with self-identification
reasons.^88 It is important to stress that, according to ‘Sui-shu’, the Tur-
kicization of the costume in Turfan involved only the male costume
and haircut,^89 a fact that is very telling for the attitude towards ‘female’
and its symbolic and prestige value.
Let us return to the female dress. An important element of the Tur-
kic tradition that can be found with both sexes is especially interesting
and can be traced later on in the female Kipchak dress of the eleventh
and twelfth century^90 —the big diamond-shaped medallions worn on
(^86) Chavannes 1903, 103.
(^87) Kliashtornyi 1964, 103–104.
(^88) Yatsenko 2000b, 350–351, 361–363.
(^89) Yatsenko 2000b, 379.
(^90) Pletneva 1974, tabl. 1, 15, 57, 72, 77, 81, 82.